Okay, I’m going to admit at the outset that I did not use golden syrup for this cake. What I did use was a double batch of maple syrup that I had spent two days trying to turn into maple cream, without success, resulting in my endless frustration, a blister on my stirring hand, and my firm belief that the maple syrup had somehow managed to convert too many of its sugars into invert sugar, thus preventing the crystallization that is crucial for the formation of maple cream. In any event, as I appeared to have a good four cups of invert syrup on my hands and no hope of maple cream, I couldn’t let it go to waste, could I? Of course not. So I made cake.
Two loaves of cake, actually, using a whopping 400g of syrup (plus more for glazing), which neatly used up the excess I had on hand. The recipe couldn’t be easier– you melt your syrup with additional sugar and butter, then beat in eggs, milk, and self-raising flour (I substituted regular flour with leaveners added), and there’s your cake batter, ready to bake!
I will note that my leavening ratio may have been a bit off– my cakes both sank in the center, which is often a sign of too much leavening (rises before it has a chance to firm up, then sinks back down)– or possibly it could’ve used a slightly hotter oven. Or maybe my inverted maple syrup had a different water content than true golden syrup. But the cakes themselves were moist and plushy, with a sticky sweetness that made it easy to try just a tiny bit more every time I passed them sitting on the counter,
Golden Syrup Cake (from Baking With Granny)
- 100g butter
- 200g golden syrup
- 50g granulated sugar
- 50g brown sugar
- 200g self-rising flour (or 190g flour plus 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. salt)
- 1 egg
- 150ml milk
- 2 additional tablespoons golden syrup, for glazing
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan, heat butter, syrup, and sugars until melted together. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl or measuring cup, beat together egg and milk.
- Measure flour into a bowl, then pour in butter/syrup mixture and egg/milk mixture. Beat until smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. You can see that mine sank in the middle, but it didn’t affect the overall texture.
- Let cake cool 10 minutes in the pan before poking holes all over the top and glazing with additional golden syrup. Let cool to room temperature.
- Cake tastes best after being wrapped in additional parchment and foil for a day or two, to let flavors develop.
It's All Frosting... 